Have you noticed Meebo, that annoying bar on the bottom of some websites like Boston.com's Big Picture, Men's Fitness, and TVGuide.com? Of course you have. It spits up ads and nags you to share stuff on Facebook while you're just trying to read. It's a website add-on increasingly used by publishers who hate their readers.

Here's how to banish it from your life forever.

Look, I'm all for advertising. I know who butters my bread, and I want content on the Web to remain free. The only way that happens is with ads. But Meebo crosses some subtle line. Its impact on design, its distraction factor, and the creepy way it tries to trick you into giving it the keys to your social media accounts are just too much.

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Ostensibly, Meebo is a way for publishers and advertisers to drive engagement. And like many things that use the word "engagement," it means it's a ploy to get you to "interact" with "content" like some sort of brainless, soulless "eyeball" disconnected from any humanity or feelings or intelligence or even reality. You are just a monkey with a mouse. Click the Meebo bar, monkey. Click it!

Sadly, Meebo is just the latest in a long line of tools that publishers use because some jerk in business development who doesn't understand the Web and cares less about audience than revenue needed more money for cocaine because dumb jerks ruin everything. Oh wait. I meant Meebo is just the latest in a long line of tools that publishers use because it gives them some abstract value while actively alienating and infuriating their audience in a concrete manner.

And worse is that, to anyone not already familiar with Meebo, it's not even clear that you're seeing an ad from the publisher, and until you do "interact" with it, it's also unclear how to even hide the damn thing. In fact, the only reason this story came up for me is due to a frustrated chat I had with my wife yesterday on IM:

Her: How come sometimes when i go to a website this bar comes up at the bottom called Meebo? I hate it, it sucks....me: YES
It's awfulHer: do you know what i'm talking about?me: some sites (like sfgate.com) use itHer: is it something on my computer
that is what i was just looking at!
sfgateme: No, it's wmbedded on the web pages
*embeddedHer: gonna get my news from nytimes from now on

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In short, my wife, who is not only a longtime reader of the San Francisco Chronicle but also an active supporter and even subscriber decided to ditch her favorite newspaper altogether. You hear that, Chronicle? You used Meebo to ruin your brand. Congratulations.

Sure, her story is anecdotal, but there are many more like them. For example, here's what a quick Twitter search reveals about how users feel about Meebo on a few popular websites.

You can set Ghostery up to allow ads and tracking on some sites (like this one, keep my paycheck coming, please!) and not others, or allow some services to load on any site. It's delightful.

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If Ghostery isn't your speed, there are all kinds of other ad blockers that will do equal damage to the Meebo bar. But the best way to get rid of it, permanently and Web-wide? Every time you see it, be sure to let the publisher know you won't be returning to that site until it's gone.

Update: Boston.com decided to remove the Meebo bar after just 48 hours due to all of the negative feedback from its readers. It's already been vanquished from most of the site. Feedback works!

Update 2: Meebo weighs in below in the comments noting "We built the Meebo bar to help users find content they like on a web site, whether that's recommended by friends, or trending content at that moment. We're trying to get better and better at this. The hope is that this helps both users and publishers." There's more too. Check it out.